This invention relates, in general, to high power solid state sources, and more specifically, to high power dielectric oscillators.
Conventional sources using dielectric stabilized oscillators (for frequency stability) invariably require power combiner/amplifier stages to achieve the necessary power needed for each application. For example, a typical dielectric resonator oscillator would output approximately 20 or 30 milliwatts and require two or three stages of amplification to achieve a power output of 20 to 30 watts. In addition, an RF driver stage and a power combiner must be added to the amplifiers to complete the circuit. One such dielectric oscillator which outputs relatively large power is disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 430,035 by the same inventor as the present application and assigned to the same assignee.
This type of oscillator having stages of amplifiers and power combiners requires circulators or isolators between stages to prevent deleterious interactions between stages. For instance, isolators would separate the oscillator from the amplifiers, and similarly, separate the amplifiers from each other.
As the different elements are combined, the entire circuit becomes relatively large. Accordingly, the size and volume increase. If the power must be increased, additional stages must be cascaded onto the entire circuit. This cascading effect decreases the total DC to RF conversion efficiency as each additional stage is cascaded on. Applications for dielectric oscillators, particularly in the microwave frequencies, continually require smaller physical volumes with larger power outputs.